DISCREET SHIPS COMBUSTION 2 SOFTWARE

DISCREET, have announced the shipping of combustion 2, the latest version of its award-winning paint, animation and 3D compositing software.
Unveiled at SIGGRAPH 2001, the combustion 2 software features were designed to provide artists with new capabilities and improved performance, all within an efficient workflow environment designed to make complex visual effects creation faster and simpler.
Providing new multi-format project capabilities for film and video, combustion 2 includes 64-bit image-processing, advanced film grain tools and colour Look-Up Table (LUT) management.
The new version also includes powerful new toolsets such as a fully editable, interactive schematic view; a fully integrated 2D particle system, an expanded interactive text and motion graphics module and state of the art rotoscoping technology. Compatible garbage masks, grain tools and colour LUTs further expand compatibility between combustion and flint, flame, and inferno - Discreet's Academy-Award winning visual effects systems.
Performance enhancements in combustion 2 include a highly optimised 2D software renderer, high performance OpenGL support for the combustion software's new particle system and a unique 3D compositing environment.
"The first release of combustion received overwhelming endorsement in the industry because it is a desktop solution that gives the artist an extremely rich and dynamic user experience," said Maurice Patel, Discreet product marketing manager for visual effects software and systems.
"For combustion 2, Discreet has expanded the production capabilities, feature sets, and performance to offer a cost-effective, creative solution unlike any other for both Macintosh® and Windows® environments while extending its workflow integration with the flint, flame and inferno visual effects systems.
Discreet, www.discreet.com (SP)